The next day as Juliet was flipping through some files about a missing person's case, she couldn't help but zone out and think of a particular charming suspect from the day before.

Thomas Magnum had plagued her thoughts ever since he made that offer for her to join him for a friendly meal after his release.

How could he possibly be so confident that his friends would bail him out by this afternoon? Or that the judge would even set a bail for him? She mused in her head.

When she decided that concentrating on any other task would be hopeless until she satisfied her curiosity, she turned to Katsumoto.

"Gordon, did you ever hear anything about what happened during that art case arraignment yesterday? The one for Thomas Magnum?"

"No, I hadn't heard anything about that. Let me check the system to see if they've updated his status," replied Katsumoto.

After a minute of typing, he found some answers.

"Hmm… the case is pending while they look for the other suspect and the stolen paintings, but the judge set bail for Magnum. Actually, it was posted an hour ago by two guys - Orville Wright and Theodore Calvin."

Higgins was slightly surprised. Everything worked out just as he said it would, she thought to herself. He really must have some trustworthy friends.

"Oh," she replied after a moment of thinking, "Interesting. Thanks for looking into it, Gordon."

Katsumoto gave her an amused look, "Are you ok, Higgins? Ever since you got back from interrogating Magnum yesterday, you've seemed kind of out of it. Did he creep you out or something? I've never seen you so distracted."

"No, nothing like that," Juliet replied, "Something about him is just different. I don't think that he is a bad man or someone trying to cause a lot of trouble; he just got caught up in a tricky situation. I just asked about the case because I was hoping that the judge wouldn't punish him too harshly."

Katsumoto chuckled at her, "Looks like someone has a little crush."

"Absolutely not!" Higgins exclaimed, "If anything, I thought he was a nuisance. The man was asking about where I am from and if I would talk to him longer because sitting in the holding cell was too 'boring' for him."

"I think he's sweet on you as well," Gordon laughed, "Just try not to talk about him and his case too much. The last thing you want is that kind of a rumor spreading around the precinct."

"I don't like him! Not in that way anyhow. He just needs a stable job and apparently some more friends, and I don't think he'll ever have another run-in with the law again."

Gordon smiled, "This softer side looks good on you, Higgins. All I have to say is that you should wait until this art theft case is closed before you get more involved with him. Things could get messy with the bosses if they find out you're either dating or helping him before this case is even closed."

"For the last time, I'm not- you know what forget it," she sighed defeatedly before turning back to the case files and attempting to push Thomas Magnum and his dinner request from her mind.

Though Juliet had given it her best effort, she couldn't stop her conversation with Magnum from the day before from playing on a loop in her mind. There was something about the man that just drew her to him.

Despite countless internal lectures to herself about how she didn't need someone like Magnum in her life to make it more complicated, something was telling her that his presence would actually relieve some of her stress.

Since she had moved to Hawaii two years prior, she had to admit that her social life had been sorely lacking. The only 'friends' that she had to speak of were work acquaintances at best, and she certainly wasn't close enough with any of them to go out and socialize on the weekends, let alone confide in them about any problems she may have. Gordon had been polite and invited her to tag along to a few department outings that his own friends had invited him to, but she had declined his offers out of the fear of seeming shy and socially awkward, even though that's precisely what she was.

In England, her social circle had been small as well. Her parents were dead and, she had no other real family. Even at times during her career with MI6, she had no one to talk to. Richard had been her saving grace there, being one of the only people during her entire life to understand her for who she was. But life had been cruel and taken him from her, resulting in a dangerous revenge mission, her dismissal from Her Majesty's top intelligence agency, and ultimately her relocation to Hawaii in an effort to get as far away from England as possible and start anew.

It would just be a friendly dinner, she told herself. What could I have to lose?

You could create a mess at work! Another voice inside yelled. What would Masters and everyone else think of you spending time with the suspect in an ongoing investigation? What if he doesn't even show up?! He could have lied about the whole thing!

This internal conflict had bagged at her for the remainder of the afternoon, resulting in her making little progress on the case she had been analyzing.

When the clock hit 5 PM, and Gordon bid her a good evening, Juliet had made a decision; she was going to that shrimp place to meet Thomas.

She was tired of being lonely, tired of returning to an empty little house at the end of a long day with no friends to talk to, and no family to call. If she was going to make a change in her life, she needed to start somewhere, and this was going to be it; risks be damned.

Taking a deep breath, Juliet vowed to be out of the precinct by 6 o'clock, so that she could meet Magnum up on the North Shore by seven.

The next chapter should be up this weekend sometime... let me know what you think so far!